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Julissa Arce

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Julissa Arce
Born (1983-03-30) March 30, 1983 (age 43)
Taxco, Guerrero, Mexico
EducationUniversity of Texas at Austin

Julissa Natzely Arce Raya (born March 30, 1983) is a Mexican-American writer, speaker, businesswoman, and advocate for immigration rights. She is the co-founder of Ascend Educational Fund (AEF) and the author of My (Underground) American Dream (2016), Someone Like Me (2018), and You Sound Like a White Girl (2022).

Early life and education

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Arce was born in Guerrero, Mexico.[1] Her parents migrated to the United States for work in 1994 when she was 11 years old and did not speak English.[2] She began using a travel visa at age 11 to move between her parents' home in San Antonio and her grandmother's home in Mexico.[1][3] At age 14, she remained in the United States after her visa expired, making her undocumented. She remained undocumented for nearly 15 years.[3] Arce's parents moved back to Mexico in 2001 when she was 18 years old with her taking over their food cart business.[2] Due to being undocumented, she bought a fake green card and Social Security number when she was 19 in order to work in the United States.[2]

Arce was able to attend college through the Texas DREAM Act. She obtained a degree in finance from the University of Texas at Austin.[1][4]

Career and advocacy

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In 2005, Arce moved to New York to start an internship at Goldman Sachs.[1] Within seven years, she was a Vice President at the company. She left Goldman Sachs for Merrill Lynch in 2011.[3]

Arce obtained a green card in 2009 after marrying and became a United States citizen on August 8, 2014.[3][4] She shared her immigration story in a 2015 Bloomberg interview.[5]

Arce is co-founder of the Ascend Educational Fund (AEF), a college scholarship and mentorship program for immigrant students regardless of their immigration status.[3] The organization has awarded over $500,000 in scholarships since 2012.[5]

Arce has authored two books about her immigrant experience; My (Underground) American Dream (2016), and Someone Like Me (2018). Her most recent book is You Sound Like a White Girl (2022).

Arce was named as one of People en Español’s 25 Most Powerful Women of 2017 and 2018 Woman of the Year by the City of Los Angeles.[6] She was awarded the Los Angeles Times Latinos de Hoy Emerging Leader Award, the NAHREP's Vanguard Award, and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation Inspira Award.[7][8][9]

Personal life

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Arce lives in Los Angeles with her husband.[10] They married on March 31, 2018 in a civil ceremony in Santa Barbara followed by another ceremony in her hometown of Taxco in Mexico.[11]

Books

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  • Arce, Julissa (2016). My (Underground) American Dream. New York: Little Brown. ISBN 9781455540242.
  • Arce, Julissa (2018). Someone Like Me: How One Undocumented Girl Fought for Her American Dream. New York: Little Brown. ISBN 9780316481748.
  • Arce, Julissa (2022). You Sound Like a White Girl: The Case for Rejecting Assimilation. New York: Flatiron Books. ISBN 9781250787019.

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 "The Undocumented Woman who Prevailed on Wall Street". Time. 21 November 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Smith, David (13 September 2016). "Julissa Arce: undocumented at Goldman Sachs and breaking a stereotype". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "From Undocumented to Goldman Sachs Exec: Julissa Arce's Amazing Story". NBC News. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  4. 1 2 Conde, Arturo (12 September 2016). "Undocumented at Goldman Sachs? Julissa Arce's riveting new book". NBC News. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  5. 1 2 Smith, Olivia (9 October 2019). "She grew up undocumented. Now Julissa Arce is working to end immigration stereotypes". GMA. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  6. ↑ "Arce, Julissa". 2020 National Immigrant Integration Conference. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  7. ↑ "The Los Angeles Times and Hoy 2016 Latinos De Hoy Awards". Houston Style Magazine. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  8. ↑ "Exclusive Excerpt from NAHREP Latino Vanguard Award Recipient Julissa Arce's Forthcoming Book". NAHREP. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  9. ↑ "2015 National Youth Awards hosted in Los Angeles". Hispanic Heritage Foundation. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  10. ↑ "Biography". Julissa Arce. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  11. ↑ Arce, Julissa (7 February 2020). "Borders Kept Our Family Apart—So We Had Three Weddings". Vogue. Archived from the original on 19 July 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
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